Method of making metal wheels.



No. 700,024. Patented May l3, I902.

E. EINFELDT. METHOD OF MAKING METAL WHEELS.

(Application filed Aug. 10, 1901.)

2 Sheets$he0t I.

(No Model.)

Patented May l3, I902.

I E. EINFELDT. METHOD OF MAKING METAL WHEELS.

(Application filed Aug. 10, 1901.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2- (No Model.)

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r UNITED STAT S PATENT OFFICE.

EMIL EINFELDT, OF DAVENPORT, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO BETTENDORF METAL WHEEL COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

METHOD OF MAKING METAL WHEELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 700,024, dated May 13, 1902.

Application filed August 10, 1901. Serial No. 71,581. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EMIL EINFELDT, of Davenport, county of-- Scott, and State of Iowa, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Methods of Making Metal Wheels, of which the following is a specification.

In connecting the members of .metal wheels'that is, the hub, rim, and spokes it is the practice under certain methods of procedure to form either at the inner side of the rim or outer side of the hub, or at both places, a shoulder by upsetting the spoke at these points by an endwise pressure thereon. The result of this action is the formation of a shoulder and a shortening of the spoke, and inasmuch as the diameter of the spokes often varies and their structural formation is not in every case uniform the shortening is greater in some cases than in others, which results in an unequal strain on the spokes and rim and in many cases in an unevenness in the rim. This variation in the. length of the spokes is particularly noticeable and objectionable where the spoke is connected with both the rim and hub by the formation of heads on the ends ofthe spoke on the insideof the hub and outside of the rim simultaneously with the formation of the shoulders between the hub and rim.

The aim of my invention is to overcome these objections resulting from the shortening of the spokes; and it consists of the method of manufacture by which the material of the spoke, either at the innerside of the rim or the outer side of the'hub, or at both places, is forced or jammed up against the adjacent members of the wheel to form a shoulder Without in any manner changing the length of the spoke between the rim and the hub. In this way the tension of each spoke and its strain on the hub and rim will be uniform.

The forcing up ofthe'material against the adjacent member of the wheel may be efiected in a number of Ways. For instance, the outer material of the spoke may be scraped up against the hub or rim in the form of a shoulder, or an annular shoulder or flange may be previously formed on the spoke and bent or jammed into forcible engagement :opening 7 in a hub 8. parts or members of the wheel preparatory with the rim or hub. In each case the metal of the spoke is forced in the form of a shoulder firmly against the adjacent member of the wheel without disturbing the interior of the spoke or changing its length between the rim and the hub, and the shoulder thus formed serves, in connection with the head on the end of the spoke, to securely fasten the latter in place I propose to utilize this peculiar method, among other purposes, for the formation of a Wheel in which the spokes will be under a tension, which is accomplished by heating one or both ends of the spoke before or at the time it is secured in place, so that the contraction from cooling will place the spoke under tension.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a view of the rim, spoke, and hub' before assembled and in the form forcarrying out my method in the preferred manner. Fig. 2 is a View of the hub, spoke, and rim assembled ready to be acted on under my method. Fig. 3 is a View of the completed wheel. 7 is a view showing how my method may be practiced to produce a wheel of a different form.

In the accompanying drawings, in carrying Fig. 4

out my method in the preferred manner I provide a closed rim 1, formed at intervals with holes 2 to receive tenons 3 on the outer ends of spokes 4, which spokes have adjacent to the tenon a shoulder 5 and at its 0pposite end a thickened or enlarged portion 6, whichis adapted to be inserted through an In assembling these to securing them in fixed relation by my method the hub and rim are held in the re lations they will occupy in the completed wheel, and the enlarged end of the spoke is passed through an opening in the hub and the spoke pushed endwise toward the center of the hub until its tenon clears the inner edge of the rim, after which the tenon is brought opposite the hole in the rim and the spoke pushed outward until the shoulder 5 thereon abuts against therim, as shown in Fig. 2. By suitable means'the outer ends of the spoke at the inside of the hub'and the outside of the rim are headed, preferably,by.up-

setting these ends, and at the same time by suitable means the shoulder 5 onthe spoke at the inner side of the rim is jammed firmly up against the rim, and the thickened portion 6 of the spoke is scraped or forced up against the hub at the outer side, as shown in Fig. The effect of this operation is to produce heads or shoulders 9 at the ends of the spokes and ashoulder 10 at the outer side of the hub, which shoulders will fasten the spoke securely to the rim and hub, and this without changing the length of the spoke between the rim and hub. After this operation is finished a second spoke is set in place and acted on as before to secure it to the rim and hub, and these operations are repeated until all the spokes are in place and the wheel is completed.

I prefer to upset the outerends of the spokes by heading-tools 11 and 12 and to jam up the shoulder 5 and scrape up the thickened portion of the spoke by cooperating dies 13, which dies and heading-tools are adapted to act in unison, the die at the hub end of the spoke and heading-tool there acting toward each other to perform their functions at the same time that the die at the opposite end of the spoke and the heading-tool there are brought together to perform their functions; but it will be understood that the invention is not limited to this particular mechanism, as any means maybe employed, provided the metal of the spoke between the hub and rim is forced up against the adjacent member of the wheel without decreasing or varying the length of the spoke between the hub and rim.

While it is preferred that the spoke be thickened where the shoulder is scraped up so,

as not to weaken it by reducing its diameter, this is not absolutely essential, for the diameter of the spoke may be the same throughout its length. Further, instead of scraping up a portion of the spoke, as described, the latter may be previously provided at the hub end with a shoulder similar to that at the rim end, and these shoulders jammed up against the hub. This action would secure a firm engagement of the spoke with the hub without shortening the former; but it would be necessary in order to set the spoke in place with this previously-formed shoulder either to omit the shoulder at the rim end and scrape up a shoulder at that point or leave the ends of the rim disconnected until all the spokes are secured in place. Further, the shoulders may be formed at both the inner side of the rim and outer side of the hub by scraping up the material of the spoke. In all these different ways of securing the spoke there is no change in its length between the rim and the hub, the action being to act on the exterior of the metal of the spoke without disturbing its interior between the rim and hub, and this is the essence of the invention.

\Vhile the spokes may be acted on in the manner described in a cold state, I propose tion by cooling, and this being uniform and the same in all the spokes and not modified by any slight changes in diameter or structure of the spokes the pull on the spokes will be the same and the circular form of the rim preserved.

In Fig. 4 I have illustrated a wheel in which the spoke on its inner end has a head previously formed, which is engaged with the in nor side of the hub by passing the spoke through an open slot 14 in the end of the hub. At its outer end the spoke has a shoulder 15 formed on it by scraping up the material of the spoke at the inner side of the rim, ahead 16 being formed on its extreme outer end at the outer side of the rim, which, in connection with the scraped-up shoulder, firmly secures the spoke to the rim. My method, it will be understood, is applicable as well to the formation of a wheel of this character, inasmuch as it comprehends the forcing up of the metal of the spoke between the hub and rim into engagement with the adjacent member of the wheel (the rim) without changing the length of the spoke between the rim and hub. If the end of the spoke is heated, its cooling will, as in the case just described, contract the spoke and place the same under tension.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim is- 1. In the method of making metal wheels, fastening a spoke simultaneously to both the hub and the rim by forcing the outer material of the spoke in the form of an integral shoulder into engagement with the adjacent member of the wheel without disturbing the interior of the spoke.

2. In the method of making metal wheels forcing the outer material of the spoke into engagementwith the adjacent member of the wheel without disturbing the interior of the spoke.

3. In the method of making metal wheels, scraping up the external material of the spoke in the form of a shoulder into forcible engagement with the adjacent member of the wheel without disturbing the interior of the spoke. I

4. In the method of making metal wheels, scraping up the external material of the spoke into forcible engagement with the outer side of the hub without disturbing the interior of the spoke.

5. In the method of making metal wheels, forcing the external material of the spoke against both the inner side of the rim and the outer side of the hub without changing the length of the spoke between the rim and hub.

upsetting the end of the spoke and simultaneously forcing up the material of the spoke against the adjacent member, of the wheel without changing the length of the spoke between the rim and hub.

'7. The method of making metal wheels, which consists in assembling in proper relations the hub, rim and spoke and simultaneously upsetting the outer ends of the spoke andforcing the material of the spoke against the inner side of the rim and outer side of the hub without changing the length of the spoke between the rim and hub.

.8. In the method of making metal wheels,

providing a hub, rim and a spoke with a thickened or enlarged portion, and scraping up this thickened portion of the spoke into forcible engagement with the adjacentmember of the wheel without disturbing the interior of the spoke or changing its length between the rim and hub.

9. In the method of making metal wheels,

providin'ga hub,rim and a spoke with a thick- I ened portion and an external shoulder, scraping up the thickened portion,,and jamming up the shoulder into engagement with the hub and rim respectively without reducing 6. In the method of making metal wheels,

the length of the spoke between the rim and hub.

' 10. The method of making metal wheels which consists in providing a rim having holes, ahub having holes,and a spoke having a thickened portion and a shoulder, passing the thickened end of the spoke through a hole in the hub, and the opposite end of the spoke through a hole in the rim, upsetting the outer ends of the spoke against the outer side of the rim and the inner side of the hub respectively, jamming up the shoulderon the spoke at the inner side of the rim, and scraping up the outer material of the spoke against the outer side of the hub in the form of a shoulder.

EMIL EINFELDT.

Witnesses:

NATH FRENCH, M. LOUISE DODGE. 

